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Chinese FM Stresses Development Issue at UNDP
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan urged at the UN headquarters Monday the international community to contribute more to world peace and development, a target set at the newly-concluded Millennium Summit.
Speaking at a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) ministerial meeting at the UN headquarters, Tang said that in view of the globalization's negative impacts on developing countries and widening gap between the north and south, to effectively facilitate the economic development of developing countries is "both an essential condition for a long-term, stable and healthy growth of the world economy and an important guarantee for the maintenance of world peace and stability."
"The United Nations, the most broadly represented and universal organization in the world today, should therefore be strengthened rather than weakened in the area of development," said Tang, who flew here a week ago accompanying Chinese President Jiang Zemin for the three-day Millennium Summit held on September 6-8.
President Jiang left here for home Saturday after the summit and Tang remained for the general debate of the 55th General Assembly scheduled to start Tuesday.
The summit ended Friday with a declaration, which calls for fighting for development for all the peoples of the world and fighting against poverty, ignorance and disease. "This is the consensus and hope reached among member states at the UN Millennium Summit," Tang said in his UNDP speech.
Tang voiced China's support for the UNDP's exploratory adjustments or reform, urging the most important agency at the UN development system to continue to concentrate on providing development assistance to developing countries and adhere to the principle of universality, neutrality and grant.
"The UNDP should base its development aid work on the actual conditions and needs of the recipient states and give consideration mainly to these elements," Tang said.
The minister expressed deep concern about decreasing core resources at the UNDP's disposal, hoping that the international community and the developed countries in particular "will show their political will, fulfill their commitments, reverse the downward trend of official development assistance as soon as possible and increase their contributions to the UNDP's core resources."
Last week's UN Millennium Summit decided that a high-level international and intergovernmental event on financing for development be held in 2001. Tang said that it is essential to make it a success.
The Chinese minister also called for efforts to further south- south cooperation "both in width and depth" and urged priority to be given to knowledge economy factors such as information technology.
Tang is expected to deliver a speech at the first day general debate of the UN General Assembly Tuesday, further elaborating China's stand on important international issues.
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